


"You kissed me," vs "You kissed back" (Plot Twist- they're Gay)

by DancingLifeboat



Category: Wayward Guide for the Untrained Eye (Web Series)
Genre: Artemis and Paul are both Bi disasters, Excessive Fluff, Excessive use of the Gay P's, F/F, Lots of kissing, M/M, Madison and Artemis freak out over hand holding while Sybilus and Paul don't do much better, Post canon, Slight Madison angst, The P's being Pining and Panic, This is going to be so cliche don't you worry, Written Pre-Episode 9, but she gets comforted don't worry, corny as heck, first time writing for this fandom might be a bit wonky, it's a getting together fic, written pre episode 8, yes there's a rain scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:35:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27961628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DancingLifeboat/pseuds/DancingLifeboat
Summary: Paul and Artemis come back to Connor Creek after another job, and both of them end up hanging out with and getting together with their respective crushes.*spaces between paragraphs means a perspective change or a time skip*
Relationships: Madison Reynolds/Artemis Schue-Horyn, Sybilus Silver the II/Paul Schue-Horyn
Comments: 23
Kudos: 50





	"You kissed me," vs "You kissed back" (Plot Twist- they're Gay)

**Author's Note:**

> I've never written for this fandom or a character with a speech impediment, so if anything is wrong or insulting pls let me know so I can fix it. I am not liable for any tooth rot you might get from this fic. They're all gay disasters, I hope you enjoy.

“ARTEMIS!!! PAUL!!!! OVER HERE!!” Paul and Artemis both jumped, turning to see Madison at the furthest table in the Dead Canary, shouting at them despite the fact that they were the only ones there other than Dr. Henry, who was nodding off into the soup that Quinn had given to him over half an hour ago. Paul eagerly waved back at the beaming sheriff, and Artemis couldn’t fight back a smile watching them. Sybilus raised a hand shyly, from the seat across the booth from Madison.

“Hey guys!” Paul said, practically bouncing to the booth and sliding into the seat next to Sybilus, turning in his seat to hug him enthusiastically. Artemis smiled apologetically at the red-faced accountant before sliding into the seat next to Madison, who then nearly crushed her with her own enthusiastic hug.

“I-I’m g-g-g-glad, er, happy- that you could make it.” Sybilus said as Paul finally released him, he smiled at both of the siblings.

“Yeah! It has been  _ far _ too quiet here without ya´ll,” Madison said cheerfully, “I think Mary Jo and Ellis might have heart attacks if something doesn't happen soon for them to chatter about.” Artemis smiled quietly, ever since they’d finished up Wayward Guide for the Untrained Eye, her and Paul had been moving between Connor Creek and the city. Although Artemis thrived on the bustle of the city and the intensity of the job, she found herself preferring the weeks they spent at the dead Canary. Something about the town just put her at ease, the company in particular. She couldn't help it, something about Madison just made her want to smile and hold her hand and all that other candy-cane sugar sweet nonsense she thought she’d left behind in her teenage years. She was kind, genuine, and had the patience of a saint. 

Paul felt the same way. Not about Madison, thank Gods. He thought she was great of course but not in quite the same way. But he also loved Connor Creek. Probably more than Artemis did. While he liked the work, he only loved it because it meant he got to work with his sister. And because he got to be “adventurous”, and got to force Artemis to be as well. He just liked the atmosphere, always something happening in a town like this, even if those “somethings” were just turtles blocking the road. He always seemed to be more at ease when they were in Conner Creek, and seeing her brother happy just added to her own contentment. She smiled as Paul launched into his own rant about their latest job as Desmond came over with food and drinks. Another perk of Connor Creek, you didn’t have to worry about ordering after a while, Quinn knew what you liked and would whip up something special and different each time. The group happily thanked him and dug in, Madison questioning the twins between bites. Artemis couldn’t help but smile, she couldn’t think of anywhere else she’d rather be.

  
\----  
  


Artemis slammed her head into the table laughing, nearly knocking her drink off the table in the process. Madison hung onto her arm, halfway through the story that had caused her reaction. Warmth spread from where Madison’s fingers touched her arm, and Artemis had a feeling that the heat had less to do with the alcohol she’d consumed that evening and more to do with the fact that  _ Madison _ was  _ hanging _ off her  _ laughing _ like a gosh-darn angel. Artemis was  _ far _ too gay to deal with that. To her surprise, Paul shushed them from across the table. She whipped her head up to snap at him, but stopped when he gestured to the sleeping man beside him. Sybilus had always been a bit of a lightweight, so his one drink of the night—and the apparently long day—had steadily drawn his head further down, sinking closer and closer to Paul’s shoulder throughout the night. Now he was dozing lightly, his face unconsciously tucked into Paul’s hoodie and his glasses askew.

Frankly, it was adorable, both Sybilus, and Paul’s protectiveness of him. Madison lowered her voice to a whisper.

“Aww, well if that ain’t the most precious thing I’ve seen all week.” Madison cooed, Artemis had to agree. She pulled out her phone and sneaked a photo mouthing an “I’ll send it to you” at both Madison and winking at Paul. Madison smiled at her and turned back to Sybilus as he sighed and nestled himself further into Paul’s hoodie. Her smile turned regretful.

“I still can’t believe I used to see him as a threat,” She looked down, her hands, which had folded themselves in front of her, stilled and clenched slightly. Artemis froze, she was never very good at comforting people, and Madison  _ very clearly  _ needed some comfort right now. 

Paul reached his arm that wasn’t being held captive by the sleepy accountant across the table and covered Madison’s hands with his own. Artemis sent him a quick grateful glance before copying his action with both of her hands.

“There was no way you could have known,” he said softly, “You were just trying to protect everyone. Including him.”

“But still- I was willing to- I  _ would  _ have  _ hurt _ him,” Madison said, sounding tortured, “just because he was a  _ werewolf. _ And hell I wasn’t the only one. The  _ entire town _ would have happily turned on him and the others the moment they knew. I just... I can’t imagine how awful that must have felt,” Madison finished dejectedly. Artemis squeezed her hands softly.

“Madison,” Paul said firmly. “Would you ever do any of that today?” Madison drew herself up quickly in shock,

“No!” She practically shouted, freezing before lowering her voice when Sybilus stirred and burrowed himself further. “No, of course not! Never!”

“Then you’ve learned!” Artemis interjected, not being able to help herself seeing Madison so distressed. Paul gave her a small proud smile, and Artemis continued

“Madison, you’ve grown since then, so you made a few mistakes! So did I! Mads, none of the wolves blame you for what happened, least of all Sybilus!” Artemis separated Madisons’ hands and wrapped both of her hands around one of them, pulling it towards her. “They’ve all forgiven you Madison.” She squeezed her hand. “ It’s okay to forgive yourself.” Madison swallowed, squeezing back. She looked down, and when her head came back up she was reaching up to wipe the few tears that had fallen from her eyes with the hand that Paul had been holding. 

“Thank you.” She said shakily, smiling softly. The Schue-horyn twins both smiled back at her, and she drew in a breath. “Hey um- Artemis, why don’t we go for a walk? I can finish the story? We don’t wanna wake up Sybilus” 

“Sure,” Artemis said, allowing her out. “Sounds good.” Paul voiced his agreement and Artemis slid out of the booth, and Madison followed. Paul waved them goodbye slightly before returning his attention to the man practically curled into his side.

  
  


Madison held the door open for Artemis as they walked into the cold autumn air. Both women tensed and pulled their coats tighter around themselves instinctively. Something on Artemis’ jacket caught the light spilling out of the Dead Canary and flashed, catching Madison’s eye. She was wearing a pin on her jacket? She asked before she could stop herself,

“The pin’s new, what’s it mean?” Artemis stopped for a second, looking down at her own jacket as if she’d forgotten she was wearing it. Her free hand reached up to touch it-  _ her free hand?  _ It was at this very inopportune moment that Madison realized they  _ were still holding hands _ . Her face flushed red as she tried to fight down the butterflies threatening to mutinize and overcome her senses. 

“Oh, this? It’s my uh- It’s my pride pin. It’s not new, Paul got us matching ones years ago when I first came out to him.” She laughed lightly, a soft smile on her face, like the memory alone still brought her joy. “I found it and thought I should start wearing it again.”

“Pride pin?” Madison said delightedly, pulling back her jacket to reveal her own striped pin on the collar of her shirt, “Like mine!!” Artemis paused, her jaw slack for just a moment before smiling again.

“Well, kind of!! Yours is…” Artemis tilted her head to try and see the pin better. “Ah, yours is the lesbian pride flag, mine is the bisexual.” Madison nodded her head, smiling back at her. They were still holding hands, Madison didn’t know what to do. She should probably let go, but she kinda didn’t want to….. At all. So instead she gripped Artemis’ hand tighter, who looked down in surprise as if she too had forgotten they were holding hands, and started leading her down the street.

“Now let’s see, where was I in the story?” She said, biting her tongue slightly and peering up at the night sky to try and hide her reddening face.

“I believe-” Artemis cut herself off with a snort of laughter, “-that Agnes had just found the skunk hiding in town hall?” Madison snorted too. 

“Right- so, Agnes had just started shrieking outta nowhere and nearly scared the living daylights out of me and Cliff-”

  
\---  
  
  


Sybilus groaned and shifted his head on Paul’s shoulder, taking his attention away from his phone where he’d been scrolling through memes. 

“Morning Sunshine” Paul said, chuckling and smiling down at Sybilus as he lifted his head off his shoulder slightly to blink sleepily at his surroundings. He mumbled a barely understandable ‘morning’ as he sat up, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands and disturbing the arm Paul had draped around him. 

“I-I’m sorry I must have-” He cut himself off with a yawn, “drifted off for a bit there.” He sat forward and ran a hand through his hair before pausing and looking up confusedly. “Wait where are m-m-my, my uh-”

“Glasses?” Paul interrupted, reaching his free hand across the table to where they were neatly folded.

“I- uh- yes.” 

“Yeah, they were nearly falling off while you were out, I didn’t want them breaking,” Paul unwrapped his arm from around Sybilus, who didn’t even have time to mourn the loss of contact before Paul was turning to him and gently putting his glasses on for him. He hooked the glasses behind Sybilus' ear, pushing some of his hair out of his face at the same time. Sybilus blinked twice, his still tired brain struggling to process. Paul, on the other hand, was seemingly unshaken. He smiled at Sybilus as he drew back. 

“Plus, I know falling asleep with glasses can leave me with a wicked headache, so I figured better safe than sorry.” Sybilus smiled nervously, trying very hard to pretend that Paul had  _ not _ just caused him a small fit of gay panic. And Paul smiled back at him, apparently oblivious. He downed the rest of his drink, while Sybilus looked across the table, surprised to find empty seats.

“M-m-madison and Artemis left?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah.” he pushed his empty glass away, “Madison was telling a story and neither of them have quiet laughs, and Madison had already told me the story, and we didn’t want to wake you up, so they went for a walk.”

“Alone?” Sybilus questioned, “At this time of night?” Paul gave him a confused look,

“Well, since there isn’t a threat of,” he raised his finger to make quotation marks “werewolves’ anymore, why wouldn’t they?”

“Oh uh, no that wasn’t what I was uh, insinuating- er suggesting- implying.” Sybilus blanched, “I more meant, I wondered, if they had uh- told each other about their feelings uh- finally.”

“Oh!” Paul said relaxing into his seat, “No, unfortunately Artie’s still in ‘denial’ mode. I mean, I’m pretty sure she knows deep down that she’s head over heels for Mads, but she’s not about to admit it.” Paul bit his lip, glad that in at least that regard, he and Artemis were different. 

\- Everybody knew about Paul’s feelings for Sybilus. Madison did after Paul had asked her about him on their weekly call. Desmond and Quinn knew despite Paul never having told them. When they had first teased him about it they had chalked their knowledge up to “having eyes”. Rita had figured it out and cornered him for the “dating my little brother talk” that the other werewolves had joined in on, which meant that Olivia and Helen knew as well. And Artemis had known since the night Paul had figured it out and had made fun of him for not figuring it out sooner, lovingly of course. In fact, after Agnes had mentioned to him that she did “couples trips” while not-at-all subtly gesturing to Sybilus, Paul was pretty sure the only people in the entire town who didn’t know were the Walkers (thank goodness) and Sybilus himself.

With Artemis on the other hand, the only people who knew were Desmond (she had gotten drunk and rambled to him one night), himself, and Sybilus (because Paul had told him). -

“Madison’s still refusing to accept the p-possibility that Artemis might like her like that.” Sybilus said, smiling wryly.

“Ugh, they really are oblivious aren’t they?” Paul said groaning, before laughing. “-Oh! Before I forget, Artemis and I just did a podcast episode on a group of penguins, I mentioned it to Madison and she said that you really like them?” Sybilus made a surprised sound as Paul continued, “So I was wondering if you wanted to look over our notes? I also got some  _ really _ cute pictures of them playing that even Artemis laughed at, we could look at those too!”

“I-'' Sybilus started, faltering at the ‘puppy dog eyes’ look that Paul was giving him “-Sure, that s-s-s-sounds great” Paul lit up at that, and stood up, grabbing Sybilus’s hand and pulling him up with him. He yelled to Desmond that they were heading up, and excitedly dragged Sybilus up the stairs to his and Artemis’s room.

\---  
  


“Oh come on!” Artemis said irritably, whipping her hand out of Madison’s to gesture and stare up at the sky, from which fat raindrops had begun to fall. Madison snorted at the childish look on her face, the sight making up for the loss of contact. Artemis whipped to face her, and Madison quickly composed her face, shrugging innocently.

“My house isn’t too far from here, just a couple blocks away, we can hide from the rain there.” Artemis sighed in relief, and started walking again, her hands bunched in her pockets.

“Thank goodness for that, these clothes are ok to get wet but I’d really prefer not-” The rest of her words were snatched from her as she slipped and nearly fell in the already slick mud. Her flailing hands grabbed onto Madison’s arm, who had moved to catch her when she started falling. Madison struggled to support both of their weight, but eventually managed to get Artemis back on her feet. 

“You good Artie?” She said when Artemis failed to release her once she was steady again.

“Oh! Oh yeah!” She said, immediately jerking away from Madison, “I’m f-” And Artemis, with all the grace that years of training herself to walk in heels should have given her, managed to unbalance herself and fell again, this time directly onto Madison, knocking her down as well. “F-fine.” Artemis finished, before laughing in spite of herself, and it didn’t take long for Madison to join in. Artemis planted her hands on the ground beside her, and started to push herself up. She looked down, and forced her heart not to stop at the sight of the sheriff beneath her. With typical Schue-Horyn luck, Artemis had managed to fell them right into one of the few developing puddles. The mud had splashed when they fell and now Madison’s hair had specks and clumps of mud littering it. If it had been anybody else, Artemis wouldn’t have thought much of it, much less had been affected by it. But something about Madison laughing up at her, mud accessorizing both of them, made Artemis’s heart leap in a way she couldn’t bring herself to acknowledge. Madison’s lips were so close, she could kiss them so easily if she wanted to.

Artemis swallowed, hard, and forced herself to start moving off her. Madison’s eyes widened, apparently finally realizing their position and its connotations. They both jumped into a flurry of movement.

In Madison’s defence, it wasn’t meant to have been a kiss. She had just been propping herself up as Artemis began moving off her. But Madison had moved too quickly and Artemis too slow and their faces had bonked and-

It couldn’t even really be considered a kiss, their lips had barely brushed. But  _ their lips had brushed _ and that sent both women into shock. Artemis froze, and Madison jerked back, nearly flinging herself right back into the mud.

“Artemis,” She began hurriedly, “I’m so sorry I-” Artemis cut her off, grabbing Madison by the fronts of her coat and hoisting her up to connect their lips again. Madison took less than a moment to kiss back, her apology melting along with her worry. Madison reached up, threading her fingers through Artemis’s hair, and Artemis hummed appreciatively as she did so. They both kissed until they were fighting the need to breathe, and when they finally broke away, they were both breathing heavily.

“You kissed me.” Madison said, nothing short of delighted once she caught her breath. Artemis looked down marginally, blushing slightly.

“You kissed back.” She replied disbelievingly, a smile finding its way to her face. At some point during the kissing, Artemis had shifted to be less on top of Madison and more straddling, and as soon as she realized this she blushed even more furiously. She moved to get off her, but ended up slipping in the still-slick mud and falling back on top of Madison. Madison laughed at that, having been getting up when Artemis moved only to be shoved back into the mud.

“Like I said-” She got out, her words accentuated with laughs, “My house isn't far from here. And I’ve got cocoa and blankets there.” She sobered herself as Artemis finally managed to climb off her and offer a hand up. “And,” She said, taking Artemis’s hand, “As for the kissing, if it’s alright with you, I’d love to do some more of it.” Artemis let out a sputter of of surprised, delighted laughter,

“Yeah,” She said smiling and squeezing Madison's hand, “Yeah, that sounds nice.”

  
\---  
  


The first thing Sybilus had been aware of when he started waking up was the softness of the hoodie beneath him and engulfed in a familiar, comforting scent he couldn’t quite identify. He hadn’t remembered feeling so safe or warm since before the entire werewolf craze. He hadn’t wanted to wake up, whomever’s shoulder he was on was comfy, he didn’t want to have to leave it. But the light from the bar had started to filter through his eyelids, waking him up against his will. He had groaned, and the person he was laying on had chuckled softly. Even in his sleepy-half aware state Sybilus could recognize that laugh, probably better than his own. 

When Paul had removed his arm, Sybilus had expected that to be the last and only time they would touch that much. Then, Paul had surprised him, managing to slip his glasses on correctly before his anxious mind could tell him to pull away. Now Paul was once again surprising him with their closeness. They had started out sitting on opposite beds, Sybilus on Artemis’s and Paul on his own. But then Paul had pulled out a picture and beckoned Sybilus over, and Sybilus had moved to Paul’s bed without thinking. Then, he was peering over his shoulder to look at Paul’s screen, then they were both shifting to get comfortable. Until they had maneuvered themselves so that they were both propped up against the headboard, leaning into each other to fit on the small bed. Paul’s arm was resting on top of the headboard behind them dangerously close to wrapping around Sybilus’s shoulder, and Sybilus had once again found his head tucked underneath Paul’s. 

Paul was currently going on about Macbeth, the conversation having moved on from penguins hours ago. Sybilus didn’t mind at all, considering that he didn’t actually have a fondness for penguins, and he was pretty sure Madison had just been trying to set them up when she’d told Paul that. He'd been surprised but pleased to learn that Paul was a Shakespeare fan. They both enjoyed Hamlet and had a certain disdain for Romeo and Juliet, but Sybilus had been surprised to learn that Paul’s favourite play had been Macbeth. Sybilus had said as much, and Paul had launched into a rant about the intricacies and comedic bits of the play, pulling up references on his laptop as needed. It was interesting, and absolutely endearing to hear him so excited about something. He was half-way through a thorough roasting of Macbeth’s character when he cut himself off.

“-Oh, sorry, am I talking too much? I know I have a tendency to ramble a lot.” He chuckled a bit nervously.

“What?” Sybilus said, “No, of course not!” He moved his head to look up at Paul confusedly. “I mean yes, you have a tendency to ramble, but, I-I like he-hearing you t-talk.”

It was a statement, but his voice had nervously veered up at the end, causing the last bit to sound like more of a question. Paul cocked his head at him, squinting his eyes confusedly.

“Why?” He said, and oh that made Sybilus’s heart hurt.

“Why? Paul why  _ wouldn’t  _ I?” He turned to face him, and he forgot his nervousness in the moment in favour of disbelief. “You’re amazing!” Paul smiled bewilderedly at him, “Paul, you’re kind, you’re funny, people  _ like _ you.” Paul raised an eyebrow,

“Really?” he said disbelievingly, and Sybilus could have fainted. 

“‘Really?’ Paul, do you think anybody else could have done what you did here? Even when everybody was mad at Artemis, they, mostly, were still fine with you! And sure, Artemis listens to people, but we wouldn’t have trusted her enough to tell her we were werewolves if you hadn’t been there!” Sybilus paused, “Paul, you are, undoubtedly, the most brave, compassionate, trustworthy person I know. How could people not like you? How could  _ I _ not like you?” Paul blinked in surprise, and when he spoke his voice was unexpectedly soft.

“You really think all that of me?” Suddenly Sybilus realized  _ just _ how much he had said, and yeah, that was a lot to say to his crush. He’d meant every word of it, but he couldn’t help feeling that his feelings for Paul, which he had worked so hard to conceal, were suddenly very, very obvious.

“Yeah?” He said, albeit a little shyly. And Paul lit up like a birthday candle, eyes sparkling and  _ oh god Sybilus was gayer than a rainbow at this point, far too gay to think straight thoughts about a guy who could make the whole room feel lighter just by smiling like that. _

“Thanks Syb.” Paul said, clapping him on the shoulder, and Sybilus felt warmth spreading from his shoulder, from both the nickname and the affection.

Paul smiled softly at Sybilus, and a clump of his dark hair fell in front of his eyes. The moment was soft and quiet, and something about Paul’s eyes being blocked from view didn’t sit right with Sybilus. Without thinking about it too much, he reached forward, softly brushing the strands away. Paul paused, and looked at Sybilus strangely. Sybilus froze, his hand inches from Paul’s face. Oh no, he shouldn’t have done that,  _ he should not have done that _ . Sybilus hurriedly drew back, an apology on his lips.

That apology died in his throat when Paul’s hand reached forward to grab his wrist and pull him closer. Sybilus’s eyes darted between Paul’s hand and face hurriedly, suddenly struggling to find his breath. Paul’s other hand moved to carefully cup the side of Sybilus’s face, and  _ oh god _ , he really couldn't breathe now. Sybilus moved forward slightly, and Paul made quick work of the rest of the gap. His hand moved to rest on the back of Sybilus’s neck, and Paul hummed happily into the kiss.  
  


Sybilus kissed like he was barely there, like he was scared Paul might push him away at any moment, despite the fact that  _ Paul _ had been the one to kiss  _ him _ . And his hands moved to hover feather light over Paul’s waist as Paul shifted to kiss him better. But as they continued kissing and Paul  _ didn’t _ jerk away, he began to gain confidence. He still kissed gently, like he was putting all his love and care into it. He tilted his head to deepen the kiss, and couldn’t keep himself from smiling into it. Not that Paul could either. But then Paul let out a giggle, the euphoria clogging the part of his brain that knew that  _ you can’t really kiss somebody when you’re laughing _ , and Sybilus joined in. Until they were both giggling like teenagers and not really kissing at all as they pulled away. They didn’t go far, really just as far as Sybilus needed to be able to bury his face in Paul’s shoulder. His hands came up to grasp at the fabric of Paul’s hoodie as Paul’s wrapped his arms around him. They both tried to calm themselves down, but just as one of them would calm down the other would snort and they would both dissolve into laughter again. Finally, Sybilus pulled back, basically having been pulled into Paul’s lap before.

“You kissed me.” Sybilus said softly, like he was checking to make sure it was real,

“And you kissed back.” Paul said, positively beaming. And then one of them leaned in, and the other followed suit, and they were kissing again. 

They kissed a lot that night. Some kisses were light and quick, often followed up with kisses littering the cheeks and forehead. Others were soft and long, lazy kisses that they both smiled into. But although the kisses were different, they all held the same underline of happiness, of joy, of  _ finally, it’s us _ . They fell asleep in what were technically the early hours of the morning, tangled in each other's arms on top of the blankets. For the second time that night, Sybilus fell asleep with his head tucked into Paul’s shoulder.

  
  
  


It was like this that Artemis found them later that morning when she stopped in to change her clothes, having fallen asleep on Madison’s couch the night before. She didn’t bother being too quiet, half hoping to wake one of them up just for the sheer pleasure of teasing them about it. But neither of them even stirred as Artemis quickly scribbled a note and placed it on the nightstand next to their glasses. She hurried out, putting on her back-up coat and waving to Desmond as she stepped into the cool morning air. She climbed into Madison’s waiting car with a smile, and was greeted with a kiss. Yeah, Artemis liked Connor Creek, quite a bit.

**Author's Note:**

> This took so long I hope y'all like it lol


End file.
